What If I Am Hurt in a Shipyard Accident?

Not all maritime injuries are suffered out at sea. Many are the result of onshore maritime accidents involving land-based workers, such as dockworkers and shipbuilders, injured on or right next to navigable waters. Such incidents, as maritime trial lawyer David Anderson explains in the video below, fall under a type of workers’ compensation known as the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act.

For maritime workers who are not members of a vessel crew, such as longshoremen and harbor workers, the Longshore Act provides protection and benefits if they suffer an on-the-job injury. However, these laws are complex and if workers do not have an experienced maritime trial lawyer on their side, their claim could net them less than they need or even nothing at all.

Worker Suffers Head Injury in Portland Shipyard Accident

According to OregonLive.com, a March 29 accident aboard a large ship in dry dock left a Portland shipyard worker with severe head injuries.

The accident took place two decks below the surface of a ship docked on Swan Island in North Portland. It is the site of a shipbuilding and ship repair site operated by Vigor Industrial. The injured worker, who authorities estimated to be in his mid-40s, was found on his back at the bottom of a steep stairway.

The Portland Fire & Rescue Technical Rescue Team, which responded to the scene, said it was unclear whether the man fell down the stairs or was injured in some other way. Despite initially devising a high-angle rope system to rescue the worker due to limited access inside the ship and the severity of his injuries, the man refused and instead returned to the ship’s deck under his own power.

“It was against our request, because of his injuries,” Portland Fire & Rescue public information officer Tommy Schroeder stated. “Due to the head trauma, often times people aren’t making good decisions.”

Once he made it to the deck, the man was hoisted to the ground by emergency responders using a crane-operated personnel carrier and taken to the trauma unit at Legacy Emanuel Medical Center by ambulance.